The thing about Mother’s Day is it stirs up so many questions, triggers so much emotion and can leave us completely worn out by the time it comes around.

What I want you to know, with all my heart, is that you deserve to be honoured.

You have been through so much, you’re carrying your grief with such grace and dignity, even when it doesn’t feel like you are, You are!

You are a warrior Mother, your Mother's heart beats every single day even though it is broken. You deserve to be acknowledged and celebrated.

Over the next few days I will be sharing ideas, thoughts, and things you might like to consider in the run up to March 11th, whether you are a bereaved Mother with aching arms, or one with a Mother’s heart but no child here on earth, or one who is waiting and striving for the child you long for, or one who has children here on earth but is still laying awake at night longing for your child who couldn’t stay.

We honour you and know the beautiful Mother love that lives on in your heart.

In our modern day society, Mothers who are grieving the death of their babies and children are often forgotten on traditional Mothers Day. Here in the UK the origins of Mothering Sunday grew out of the 16th century practice of annually visiting one's mother church, and being reunited with one's children on this day. However in 1907 in America, Anna Jarvis officially founded the traditional Mother's Day to honour her own Mother Ann who lost 7 of her babies! It was created in honour of a bereaved mother! Within just a few years, the deep emotions meant to be conveyed by Mother’s Day were submerged by superficial commercial interests that meant big profits for business, but ignored the feelings of grieving mothers.Ann’s daughter, Anna Jarvis, began a lifelong fight against what she saw as a violation of her Mother’s intention for the Mother’s Day holiday. She recognized the deep irony. A day initially intended to recognize the pain of grieving Mothers had been hijacked to sell products. And now, it is precisely those bereaved Mothers, most deserving of a day of recognition, who are most likely to be cast aside by our superficial version of the holiday.

It is time to get back to the original intent: a loving tribute to all mothers, but especially an opportunity to help those suffering a grievous loss of a precious loved one.You deserve to be recoginsed and celebrated!Stay with us beautiful Mother, over the following days my hope is that you will find ways to reclaim this Mother’s Day and find your place within it. Just because your baby died does not mean that you're not a Mother anymore. You are your baby’s Mother forever. We honour you, we celebrate you and we will hold your hand through this heart wrenching time, together we can navigate this!

It is a great honour to announce that Leanne Brown (RHOC) is now the first Patron of Tigerlily Trust. We are delighted to welcome her to our team, and work with her to help raise awareness about baby loss and fundraise to help us continue the vital support we provide. Leanne, who has heartbreakingly suffered her own baby loss three times and didn't feel she received the support she needed said "I can't even express how proud I am to be involved!" Originally from Barrow-In-Furness, Leanne has this local connection, and sadly two of her close family members have also tragically had stillborn babies, one of whom received our Remembrance Box and support after the devastating loss of her baby in 2015. It is with deep gratitude that we look forward to what we might achieve together in the future. Thank you Leanne for your kindness, generosity and support. Love and light, Val x x x

I am very pleased to say that this year we are having a Christmas tree for the first time at the Dalton Christmas Tree Festival to help raise money and awareness for Tigerlily Trust and baby and child loss.

The festival theme this year is “All Kinds And Everything” and I immediately thought of the Dana song which continues – “Reminds Me Of You” It felt very much like it was absolutely meant to be and so our tree title is “Reminds Me Of You” and my thoughts are to fill the tree with baubles handmade by bereaved parents in memory of their babies or children.

We are planning a series of bauble making workshops at the Riverside Hotel in Kendal during September, October and November.

To attend a workshop

You can book your place on a workshop to make your bauble for £5 donation payable on the day, email us at enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk to book your place telling us which date you wish to attend, who you will be making a bauble in memory of and their birthday or angelversary if you wish to include them on your bauble, and what colours you wish to use e.g. Pinks, Blues, or Whites.

For Postal Participation

If you would like a bauble made for you and have your baby or child remembered on our tree but cannot attend a workshop – for £5 + £3.50 P&P you can have a bauble lovingly hand made for you by one of our bereaved parents and after the festival we will post it out to you.

Our colour themes will be pinks, blues and whites,

Please make your £8.50 donation, per bauble, through our Virgin Money Giving Reminds Me of You Event page, stating in the message what colour theme you would like and the name of your baby/child and their date of birth and/or angelversary if you would like that included. Please remember to tick Gift Aid if applicable to help us raise funds.

For postal participation - please send us an email after you have made your donation to enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk with your name, the name of the baby or child you want remembered, the colour theme you would like, and their date of birth and/or angelversary if you would like that included.

For example - Donation made by Val Sherwood for Reminds Me of You Bauble in memory of Lily 21.10.11 Pinks - please send to... postal address.

Your bauble will be a heart shaped decoupage creation approximately 9cm by 8cm by 5cm made in the colour choice stated by you and created specially for you by a bereaved parent. We will post your bauble to you after the festival finishes to the address you give us, and it will sent signed for delivery.

Thank you, and we will be honoured to remember all our babies and children with you in this lovingly creative way.

When you do your shopping at Kendal Asda - Tigerlily Trust has been accepted as part of their green token scheme, so if you chose to give us your green tokens when you shop we will be in the running for some funding! There is no minimum spend, just ask for your tokens and pop them in the Tigerlily Trust collection point in the store foyer, we're the yellow shoot. Winner = £500 2nd and 3rd = £200 so it would help us to give more Remembrance Boxes and Miscarriage Care packages to our hospitals. Please help us by sharing our post on Facebook and telling your family and friends, it would help us hugely to win this to help us continue the work we do supporting bereaved families after the death of their beloved baby or child. Thank you everyone, we are nominated through to July - please share share share! Huge thanks, Val x x x

Lune Park Children's Centre, Owen Road, Lancaster. LA1 2LN

We are very pleased to say that we have secured our new venue for the Lancaster Support Group Meeting for bereaved parents who have suffered the loss of their baby or child - the meeting is at Lune Park Children's Centre on 2nd Friday each month 2-3.30pm. We still need to sign in at the reception desk. There is free parking. This building is in Rylands Park and is accessed via Owen Road. Further dates are as follows, 2nd Friday in each month -

12th May - newly bereaved meeting (last 3yrs)

9th June - open to all bereaved parents

14th July - newly bereaved meeting (last 3yrs)

11th August - newly bereaved meeting (last 3yrs)

8th September - open to all bereaved parents

13th October - newly bereaved (last 3yrs)

10th November - newly bereaved (last 3yrs)

8th December - open to all bereaved parents

Look forward to connecting with you there, if you have any questions please contact Val either via the Tigerlily Trust Facebook page or email enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk Many thanks, Val x

We are very pleased to say that we have secured our new venue for the Lancaster Support Group Meeting for bereaved parents who have suffered the loss of their baby or child - the next meeting is at Lune Park Children's Centre on Friday 21st April 1-3pm. We still need to sign in at the reception desk. There is free parking. This building is in Rylands Park and is accessed via Owen Road. Further dates are as follows, 2nd Friday in each month -

12th May - newly bereaved meeting (last 3yrs)

9th June - open to all bereaved parents

14th July - newly bereaved meeting (last 3yrs)

11th August - newly bereaved meeting (last 3yrs)

8th September - open to all bereaved parents

13th October - newly bereaved (last 3yrs)

10th November - newly bereaved (last 3yrs)

8th December - open to all bereaved parents

Look forward to connecting with you there, if you have any questions please contact Val either via the Tigerlily Trust Facebook page or email enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk Many thanks, Val x

Next months meeting will be held at Lune Park Children's Centre on Friday 10th March 2-3.30pm in meeting room 1. We still need to sign in at the reception desk but then the meeting room is upstairs in a quiet part of the building. There is free parking. This may just be a temporary venue as they cannot take any bookings after March as yet. We are still looking at other potential venues. This building is in Rylands Park and is accessed via Owen Road. Look forward to connecting with you there, Val x

Sadly, due to closure we will be holding our last Support Group Meeting at Firbank Children's Centre, Lancaster on Thursday 16th February rather than Friday. Usual time 2-3.30pm. We are searching for a new venue and will keep you informed of any developments. We wish to say a huge thank you to the team at Firbank who have looked after us so well, and wish them every success in the future. Many thanks, Val x x x

Wherever you are on your journey through grief there are warm hugs and support here for you.

"I felt like I was the only person in the world who had a baby that had died." Mother.

If you would like to meet other bereaved parents in your local area there are groups in Lancaster,Barrow-in-Furness and Kendal.

We are very pleased to be offering support meetings once a month for bereaved parents. If you have lost your precious baby or child you are very welcome to come along and have a safe, compassionate and understanding place to share with other bereaved parents. We create a gentle and nurturing space where we will 'hold the space' for you to be able to share and connect if you wish to, or simply be, if that's what will serve you best.

If you require any further information or would simply like to ask something to help you feel more comfortable to attend, please email Val at enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk

I look forward to connecting with you there, love and light, Val x x x

Monthly meetings - two months for newly bereaved parents (within the last 3 years) then the third month is open to all bereaved parents, including those with historical losses.

Monthly meetings – held on the 3rd Friday in every month. Two months for newly bereaved parents (within the last 3 years) then the third month is open to all bereaved parents, including those with historical losses.

If you would like to meet up with a bereaved Mother one to one this can be arranged for you.

" all I wanted was to talk to another bereaved Mother who understood " Mother.

Many of us know first hand how much comfort and support simply talking to another bereaved parent can give. The reassurance of talking to someone else who has been affected by the death of a baby or child and who is nearby to meet is invaluable. Sometimes just sitting together and sharing our hearts can be the most healing balm. Please email Val at enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk who can arrange this for you.

Please don't feel alone with your feelings, we are here for you, just reach out and take our hand.

International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month

Do you think you could raise £17 - £70 for charity in one month?

Please join our October International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month fundraising challenge.We'd love to get 100 people to raise £70 each to raise the funds to supply 100 Remembrance Boxes. Every £70 will provide 1 Remembrance Box or 4 Miscarriage Care Packages for our hospitals to give to bereaved parents. They contain items to encourage parents to make and collect precious memories with their baby in the crucial and short time they have in hospital, as well as resources and support for when they return home. For those of us who have had our child die these treasures are all we have left to help us connect with and remember our precious child. They are so important in our grieving process and ultimately help to promote healing.

We have increased the service we provide locally to make sure every bereaved parent receives something to mark the little life they just lost. To do this we need to provide an extra 780 Miscarriage Care Packages per year just to our local hospitals, which will cost £13,260.

Let me know if you'd like to join in this very special heartfelt challenge.

You need not have experienced the loss of a baby, in order to help us. You can raise the funds in any way that you wish - a sponsored challenge, asking friends and family, having a cake sale or coffee morning, having a raffle, organising an event, collecting loose change, every single donation helps….

We have a Virgin Money Giving page that you can link to in order to raise money, publicise your event, and help raise awareness. They will transfer all funds raised to Tigerlily Trust, so it's simple and all done for you.Let us see how many people we could help….Love and blessings, Val x x x

We invite you to join us along with family and friends for a very special evening remembering and celebrating all our babies and children gone to soon.

On this special date, International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, we will light candles and be part of the global wave of light around the world. It will be an evening of remembering and honouring our babies, sharing and connecting with those who have travelled this path and those who helped us to travel it, a beautiful celebration with loved ones, our families and friends. If you think you would like to come along, please join our event on Facebook - Tigerlily Trust Remembrance Celebration.

Come early to allow time for candle lighting.

There will be tea and coffee afterwards and time to talk and connect with each other.

This year we are again at the beautiful venue Heron Corn Mill situated next to the River Bela. There is ample parking at the Mill which is just off the A6 at Beetham, as you turn off to Beetham Village turn almost immediately right and follow the Mill Lane to the end where it opens up into the car park. We hope to see you there, please arrive early to allow time for candle lighting, message or email me with any questions, I will do my best to answer.

We understand that some of you may wish to join us for the Remembrance Celebration but be unable to - with this in mind we would like to offer you a way to include your precious babies too. If you leave us their name in the comments below, email us, or Facebook message us, we will honour them by lighting a candle for them and speaking their name with all our babies.

United we honour our precious ones, together we help each other to heal.

Love and blessings, Val x x x

October 2015 Fundraising Challenge

Posted 9/2/2015

International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month

Do you think you could raise £50 for charity in one month?

Please join our October International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month fundraising challenge.We'd love to get 100 people to raise £50 each to raise the funds to supply 100 Remembrance Boxes. Every £50 will provide 1 Remembrance Box or 4 Miscarriage Care Packages for our hospitals to give to bereaved parents. They contain items to encourage parents to make and collect precious memories with their baby in the short time they have, as well as resources and support for when they return home. For those of us who have had our child die these treasures are all we have left to help us connect with and remember our precious child. They are so important in our grieving process and ultimately help to promote healing.

We want to increase the service we provide locally to make sure every bereaved parent receives something to mark the little life they just lost. To do this we need to provide an extra 780 Miscarriage Care Packages per year just to our local hospitals, which will cost £11,700.

Ultimately we want to provide these for all our local GP Surgeries too, so that families suffering early miscarriages are also given support at their time of loss. This is our dream goal and something we are working on with our fundraising challenges.

Let me know if you'd like to join in this very special heartfelt challenge.

You need not have experienced the loss of a baby, in order to help us. You can raise the funds in any way that you wish - a sponsored challenge, asking friends and family, having a cake sale or coffee morning, having a raffle, organising an event, collecting loose change….

We have a Virgin Money Giving page that you can link to in order to raise money, publicise your event, and help raise awareness. They will transfer all funds raised to Tigerlily Trust, so it's simple and all done for you.Let us see how many people we could help…Love and blessings, Val x x x

We are very pleased to be offering a support meeting in Lancaster once a month for bereaved parents. If you have lost your precious baby or child you are very welcome to come along and have a safe, compassionate and understanding place to share with other bereaved parents. We create a gentle and nurturing space where we will 'hold the space' for you to be able to share and connect if you wish to, or simply be, if that's what will serve you best.

To be held at Firbank Children's Centre, Firbank Rd, Lancaster LA1 3HL 1-3pm

Dates 17th July 2015

21st August 2015

18th September 2015

16th October 2015

20th November 2015

If you require any further information or would simply like to ask something to help you feel more comfortable to attend, please email me at enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk

I look forward to connecting with you there, love and light, Val x x x

Barrow-in-Furness Support Meeting for Bereaved Parents

Posted 8/7/2015

We are very pleased to be offering a support meeting in Barrow-in-Furness for bereaved parents. If you have lost your precious baby or child you are very welcome to come along and have a safe, compassionate and understanding place to share with other bereaved parents. We create a gentle and nurturing space where we will 'hold the space' for you to be able to share and connect if you wish to, or simply be, if that's what will serve you best.

Following meetings to be arranged at each meeting, if you are unable to attend but would like to know when the next meeting is to be held you can contact Rebecca Bleackley at FGH Maternity Unit on 01229 491098 or email Bereavement.Midwives@mbht.nhs.uk

If you require any further information or would simply like to ask something to help you feel more comfortable to attend, please email Val at enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk

I look forward to connecting with you there, love and light, Val x x x

Barrow-in-Furness Support Meeting For Bereaved ParentsWe are very pleased to be offering a support meeting in Barrow-in-Furness for bereaved parents. If you have lost your precious baby or child you are very welcome to come along and have a safe, compassionate and understanding place to share with other bereaved parents. We create a gentle and nurturing space where we will 'hold the space' for you to be able to share and connect if you wish to, or simply be, if that's what will serve you best.

Following meetings to be arranged at each meeting, if you are unable to attend but would like to know when the next meeting is to be held you can contact Rebecca Bleackley at FGH Maternity Unit on 01229 491098 or email Bereavement.Midwives@mbht.nhs.uk

If you require any further information or would simply like to ask something to help you feel more comfortable to attend, please email Val at enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk

I look forward to connecting with you there, love and light, Val x x x

Fundraising Garden Party

Posted 7/13/2015

On Saturday I had the privilege of spending a truly heartwarming afternoon with the most amazing family, their family, friends and neighbours at a garden party organised by Claire and Stephen in honour of their daughter Rosie.

Rosie would have been celebrating her 10th birthday this year, and her mum Claire had promised herself that, in Rosie’s 10th year, they would do a big fundraiser in her memory.

The sun was shining, there was an abundance of delicious sandwiches and home made cakes, the bouncy castles, face painting, lucky dip, games and inflatables were seriously enjoyed by all the youngsters. Fantastic prizes were donated for the raffle, and there was even a barbecue in the evening for anyone who wished to stay later.

Claire and I spoke about how hard it is every year - not to be organising a party on your baby’s birthday, not to able to celebrate in all the ways you so longed to. Having to find your own quiet ways to honour your baby’s special day. Which is what made this so absolutely beautiful to be part of - so many people gathered together to celebrate Rosie, a party for a special little girl who will always be remembered and always loved.

I want to say a few huge THANK YOU’s firstly to Claire and Stephen for making such a wonderful day for everyone, and to Claire’s parents Joan and Gordon for all their support and organisation of the day, and not forgetting Stephen’s parents who looked after the raffle all day and did a sterling job. Thank you to everyone who came along to celebrate, made delicious cakes, bought raffle tickets, donated, and just made the most heart-full special day filled with love and true spirit of community.

Thank you to everyone who came over to speak to me and enquire about Tigerlily Trust, thank you for sharing some of your own personal journey’s with me, and thank you for your generosity.

I also got to meet in person some of the wonderful knitters who have been sending parcels of knitting for our appeal. It was a real joy to put faces to names.

I met an old friend again after many years, and also one of the lovely midwives who looked after us when I was in the early stages of labour with Lily - so all in all it was an emotional day.

The whole time I was so aware of the precious little girl we were honouring, her 10 red balloons dancing above us, her siblings running around thoroughly enjoying themselves, but most of all the obvious love, warmth, care, support, friendship and utterly wonderful generosity of spirit from everyone who had been touched in some way by Rosie’s brief whisper of life. Anyone who has lost their child or has supported a relative or friend who has, knows that “ Each new life, no matter how brief, forever changes the world.”

Thank you Rosie, thank you Claire and Stephen, thank you everyone for your support, you raised an amazing £1,200 on the day, which with Gift Aid will rise again.

What a tremendous tribute to Rosie and her family and friends.

Together you have made it possible for Tigerlily Trust to support so many more bereaved families in our local area in Rosie’s memory.

We are very pleased to be offering a support meeting in Lancaster once a month for bereaved parents. If you have lost your precious baby or child you are very welcome to come along and have a safe, compassionate and understanding place to share with other bereaved parents. We create a gentle and nurturing space where we will 'hold the space' for you to be able to share and connect if you wish to, or simply be, if that's what will serve you best.

To be held at Firbank Children's Centre, Firbank Rd, Lancaster LA1 3HL 1-3pm

Dates 17th July 2015

21st August 2015

18th September 2015

16th October 2015

20th November 2015

If you require any further information or would simply like to ask something to help you feel more comfortable to attend, please email me at enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk

I look forward to connecting with you there, love and light, Val x x x

Remembering in the month of July

Posted 7/1/2015

Father's Day

Posted 6/21/2015

Wishing you peace this Father's Day....

May you know always that you are surrounded by the boundless love of your precious child x x x

Be Gentle With Yourselves

Posted 5/2/2015

The birth of new babies can sometimes be hard on bereaved parents, especially if their own baby was the same sex or has a special date at a similar time. With a new royal baby being the focus of so much media attention, the constant stream of updates can feel overwhelming. So, while we are delighted to hear that Kate and William have safely welcomed a little princess into the world, we would like to send our love and offer our support to all the bereaved parents who might be finding things difficult at the moment. Please be gentle on yourselves. You are not alone. Love and light, Val x x x

October 15th International Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day + Global Wave of LightWe are very grateful to Scott and Claire for their generous hospitality in hosting us for our annual Remembrance Celebration. We invite you to join us for a very special evening remembering and celebrating all our babies and children gone to soon.On this special date, we will light candles and be part of the global wave of light around the world. It will be an evening of remembering and honouring our babies, sharing and connecting with those who have travelled this path and those who help us to travel it. If you would like to come along, please join our event on Facebook - to help us prepare for accommodating you.

Doors open 6pm please come early to allow time for candle lighting and putting an angel on our remembrance tree in memory of your baby or child. There will be tea and coffee afterwards and time to talk and connect with each other.We hope to see you there, message or email Val with any questions you may have, I will do my best to answer - enquiries@tigerlilytrust.co.uk

We understand that some of you may wish to join us for the Remembrance Celebration but be unable to attend - with this in mind we would like to offer you a way to include your precious babies too. If you send us their name in an email we will honour them by lighting a candle for them and speaking their name with all our babies during the ceremony.United we honour our precious ones, together we help each other to heal.Love and blessings, Val x x x